4 Common But Useless Fattburning Exercises

You may be wasting your time in the gym or at home if you are trying to shape your body or get rid of body fat.

Most people are. That is when it comes to exercise for getting rid of belly fat and getting into better shape.

I was in the gym today (nothing new... ; ) and I saw all 4 of these exercises being performed by various gym members (again... nothing new.)

And they are useless for 99% of the people on the planet.

Here they are...

USELESS EXERCISE 1: Walking Dumbbell Lunges

Okay ladies, this one is for you... although I see guys do this exercise as well.
This is where you take a pair of dumbbells and kneel with one leg, then the other, and so-on, walking around the gym as you go.

The idea behind this exercise is to work the butt, and to some extent the thighs... but it's a joke. It's something invented by trainers who should know better.

If you want to build and tone your butt, exercise one leg at a time. Lunges are a great exercise for this, but save your energy. Do them on a Smith Machine or with a barbell. Work one leg at a time, too. Do not alternate legs. This just wears you out aerobically before it has a chance to get to your glutes.

Here's how I perform lunges: On a Smith Machine, with pretty heavy weights... one leg at a time. I will do 2-3 sets, or do them in my 7 Minute Body-style workout fashion. I will finish one leg (and one butt cheek) before moving to the other leg.

Why? Again, to focus on the muscle more intensely and to avoid turning a leg/butt workout into a cardio session.

Jon Benson covers exactly how to work the butt area for the best results in 7 Minute Body and 7 Minute Muscle, found right here:

7 Minute Muscle

USELESS EXERCISE 2: The Sit-up

I'm shocked that people still think sit-ups done the old-fashioned way actually work the abs. Even worse, most people have been fooled into believing this actually helps get rid of belly fat.
Nonsense. Belly fat is burned off when you have a good nutrition plan and through general exercise, not using exercises for the abs. Ab exercises are fine, but guess what?

I never train my abs more than 3-5 minutes. Today my ab workout took 3 minutes and 12 seconds to complete. And my abs are sore!

But without the nutrition plan, forget it... I'd never SEE my abs at all. I'd just have a nice wall of muscle with a bunch of flab covering it up.

The best nutrition plan for abs is The Every Other Day Diet plan, found here:

Every Other Day Diet

The best exercises to do for the actual ab muscles are hanging leg raises, done slowly, crunches (if you do them right)... and that's really all you need.

USELESS EXERCISE 3: The Bench Press

I'm going to get a lot of flack from the guys out there who love to bench, but I'm here to tell you that this exercise for body shaping is all but worthless.

Why? Because most people are not built right body-wise to bench press on a flat bench with a barbell. I am not, that's for sure.

Bench presses work if you have short arms, a relatively short torso, and your shoulders are genetically strong.

Protect your shoulders and really work your chest by doing incline dumbbell presses with your palms facing OUT, not in toward your head. This protects the rotator cuff, a part of the shoulder that is often injured using barbell bench presses.

Combine this with a good cable fly or press movement and you're set. Again, you only need about 7-14 minutes of chest work tops to get the job done.

USELESS EXERCISE 4: Most Cardio Exercises

Yep... saved the best for last.

Here's a fact: Most cardio (bike, treadmill, glider, whatever) is a waste to time... UNLESS you do it at the right time with the right nutrition plan.

The calories you burn from cardio will be easily negated simply by eating a bagel! Hardly effective for getting rid of body fat. Weight training and/or resistance training at home or with your body weight, as covered in 7 Minute Muscle, is your best bet for exercise that burns-off mega-calories and keeps on burning long after the exercise session is over.

Here's how to use traditional cardio wisely:

1. Do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach;

2. Keep your heart rate down to 75% of your max (220 minus your age x .75 will give you this number, at least approximately);

3. "Burst" for 2-3 minutes in your session up to 85-90% of your max heart rate.

4. OR, do cardio right after weight or resistance training when your heart rate is already elevated and your blood sugar is lower. Your body burns blood sugar first during exercise.
Cardio for most people only needs to be performed 3-4 times a week for 20 minutes. The only time I break this rule is when I want to get my body fat below 10%. Then I will do more, but only using the rules above.

Hope this saves you a ton of time with your workouts.

Enjoy your holidays!

Mike

P.S. You can get both books, The Every Other Day Diet plan and 7 Minute Body, for a big-time discount by going here and watching this presentation:

CLICK.HERE

The Best Fat Loss Exercise?

There is no single best fat loss exercise. Instead, you must have a list full of effective fat loss exercises, mainly exercises that focus on compound movements. This list will eliminate boredom and physical staleness from repeating the same fat burning exercises over and over again. Plus you will always keep your body guessing which helps ensure that you won’t plateau and will prevent overuse injuries.



That being said, I do have a favorite fat burning exercise. Not only is this exercise a great fat burner, but it can also be done anywhere! When this exercise is done properly, a few minutes of this exercise can burn as many calories as jogging at a steady pace for an entire boring hour!

Let me introduce you to the Advanced Burpee! The Advanced Burpee can be broken down into 4 steps. Please remember when performing this exercise that form is more important than speed. Make sure you take things slowly at first until you have sound form.

1. Stand as if you were going to perform a body weight squat. Squat down, keeping your lower back straight and put your hands on the ground in front of your feet as if you were a frog about to jump to the next lily pad.


2. Kick your feet back to bring yourself to a push-up position.


3. Perform a push-up.


4. At the top of the push-up thrust your legs back up into the squat position (‘frog’ position) with your hands still on the floor.


5. Finish by jumping up in the air with your arms straight up, as if you wanted to touch the sky. Once you’ve landed, quickly drop back down into the ‘frog’ position (step 1) and continue to do the exercise for the allotted time or # of repetitions.

Since the Advanced Burpee can be done anywhere, I use it as a complete workout when I’m traveling or when I don’t have time to make it to the gym.

The workout is rather simple: I set my stop watch to 5 minutes and do as many Advanced Burpees as I can in the allocated 5 minutes. I keep track of how many Advanced Burpees I do and try to improve on that number the next time I perform the workout.

Although there are a lot of different fat burning exercises out there, the Advanced Burpee is one of the most effective and one of my favorites!

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Join Transformation Contest 6

I'm officially starting the Turbulance Training Transformation Contest #6 tomorrow. These last few weeks I've really been slacking on my quest to get ripped and obtain my six pack abs. Tomorrow I change all of that, no more excuses!!

Why I think you should join the contest with me:

1. You are going to lose weight! Even if you make small changes to your diet and perform the Turbulance Training workouts as prescribed, you will see results! With those results you will be happier with what you see in the mirror, will start showing more confidence in yourself, will feel dramatically better, will have more energy for your kids, will see your sex life improve, etc. Get the picture?? Starting small and losing weight little by little can have dramatic results!!

2. The cash prizes!! So not only will you lose weight and feel better, but you have a chance to win $1,000! What makes this even better is that Craig splits the contest into male and female categories and also offers prizes for 2nd and 3rd places!

3. You have built in accountability when you sign up. Most people do not stick to their diet/exercise program when they try to lose weight. Craig has solved this problem by giving you at least 1 month free to TTMembers.com. This is Craig's forum where you can go to talk to other TT Members about your weight lose jourey and ask questions when you get stuck. Personally I like to post my before pictures on the forum. By putting my pictures on the internet and in front of strangers, it forces me to stick to my goals. I wouldn't want to post final pictures with no results with all these people watching, right?

4. A FREE prize for everyone who finishes the contest. As long as you submit before and after photos Craig will give you access to TTMembers.com for 6 months! He usually charges $20 a month for the use of his forums, so you'd be getting a $120 gift just for losing weight!

I actually think TTMembers.com is worth more than the $120. Not only will you have access to hundreds of other TT followers, but you will have access to Craig directly. PLUS you will be able to download Craig's monthly workouts!

5. If you are still hesitant about Turbulance Training, Craig is offering a trial offer. You can sign up for Turbulence Training for $4.95 and try it for 21 days. If you don't like the program, return it, no questions asked!!

=>Check out the trial offer!

If you want to sign up for the Turbulence Training Transformation Contest 6 with me, please click this link. You won't be disappointed!

Transformation Contest 6 Sign-Up

My Busy Week w/ Body Weight Workouts

It's been a while. I've been really busy and to be perfectly honest, exhausted!! I was supposed to take last week off from work to take care of my 3 month old son.

A major project came up and I ended up working AND taking care of my son. I must say I have a new appreciation for stay at home mothers now!!

During the week I found out I finished third in the Turbulence Transformation Contest 5. I'd like to thank all of you who took the time and voted! I'll have a post soon as to why I think you should join the Transformation Contest 6!

Since I was so busy playing Mr. Mom and with work, I delayed my entry into the Transformation Contest 6 and plan to take my entry pictures (along with my wife) until tomorrow.

However, I did try to keep to my healthy lifestyle even though I was busy. I was able to do the Turbulence Training Body Weight workouts. The body weight workouts were a great way to stay active and get my workouts during the week.

They still included super-sets, but I was able to do them around my house with my son watching! I did my High Intensity Interval Training at night once my wife came home. I ran sprints throughout my neighborhood a couple times and did intervals on the heavy bag.

Overall the Turbulence Training Body Weight workouts were a great way for me to quickly get my workouts in while I was busy watching my son and getting my work done.

I Made the Turbulence Training Tranformation Contest Finals!!

My hard work has really paid off this year. First, I'm seeing great results in the mirror in my quest to get ripped and see my six pack abs! Second, Craig Ballantyne from Turbulence Training has picked me for a finalist for the Transformation Contest 5!!

So now I'm asking you to vote for me (okay, I'm begging you!!).

Just click this link:

Transformation Contest 5

Then click the 'Vote for Men' link to see the male contestants. I'm the second good looking guy down. Please vote for me!!

Here's what I looked like when I started Turbulence Training on December 28, 2008:

And here's how far I've come!! 31lbs lost this year with Turbulence Training!! My before and after for the Transformation Contest 5:

Pretty nice results huh?? I'm still planning to keep going so I can get my body fat down below 10%, which will get me ripped 6 pack abs!! My wife, Allison, is so impressed with my results that she will be joining the next contest with me. She believes that she will be able to get her pre-pregnancy body back! I personally believe her body will look better than it did before baby if she sticks with Turbulence Training. (Yes, I will have pictures and blog updates following her progress.)

So if you want to see some dramatic results and have a chance to win $1,000, I suggest you join the next Transformation Contest. Click her to sign up for Turbulence Trainings Transformation Contest 6! Believe me, its the best $40 that you can invest in yourself!!

Thursday's Off-Day Workout and Meals to help get 6 pack abs

We all know that your body adjusts to your workouts pretty quickly (if you didn't know that, you do now!). So although I do my Turbulence Training workout programs for 4 weeks, I always try to either increase my weight or do more repetitions.



I also try to keep my off-day workouts (lighter workouts than my TT workouts) different from week to week (off day workouts are Tues, Thurs and Sat or Sun depending on what day of the weekend I take).



Yesterday I tried a workout I never tried before!! I jogged down the block to the community pool and swam laps!! Since I have not done any swimming in a long time I treated my laps like intervals. I would swim 2 laps (1 freestyle, 1 breast stroke) and then rest for 1 minute (my watch is waterproof thankfully). I did 7 intervals total and then dried off and jogged back home.



Man was I sore this morning!! My lats and abs felt like they were on fire! Now that is a sign that my body was not expecting that workout!



I also tried something different for my meal plan too. I didn't eat anything! Yep, I tried 2 days of Eat Stop Eat this week. I had no problems and actually feel great today. Lets hope the scale gives me a good # on Sunday. I know the mirror is already showing encouraging signs!

Fat Burning 30 Minute Workout - 6 Pack Abs here I come!

I did an awesome fat burning workout today for my 'off-day' 30 minutes of activity. I ran to the gym during my lunch and got this workout done in under 30 minutes. I was drenched with sweat when I was done too!

1A) Clean and Press: 3 sets of 8
1B) Plank on Stability Ball: 3 sets of 45 seconds on the ball.

2) Kettle Bell Swing - 75 Reps - I took 30 second breaks as needed until I reached the 75 repetition.

3) 20 second active/10 second rest tabatas jumping rope - I did this 12 times

Overall it was a quick, but very effective workout. When I do my off-day workouts I always make sure that I do not do any exercise that will effect my Turbulence Training workouts the next day.